Thursday, March 06, 2008
Steak lovers come to Regency Room; gravy train comes to Waffle House
Larry Bly
Larry Bly has plenty on his plate these days. He's got two TV shows on Cox Cable Roanoke. Click ahead for details and showtimes.
Recent columns
How's that for a contrast in subjects for this week?
First, I've eaten several times recently at the Hotel Roanoke’s Regency Room for dinner. I find the menu these days incorporates a lot of interesting items that get away from the tried-and-true.
For one, you may select Thai dishes that compare favorably to our full-time Thai restaurants locally. Or any number of variations from Japanese specials to Italian and traditional Southern.
Of course, Southern used to be what the Regency Room was all about: spoon bread, peanut soup, pork chops with mashed potatoes and peas. You can still get the spoon bread, but you'll have to ask for it, as well as the peanut soup.
For me, the peanut soup is way too heavy and fills me up before my entree arrives. The spoon bread used to get dry under the heat lamps, so you'd have to put a half a pound of butter into it. Spoon bread has to be served the moment it comes out of the oven or it's not right.
But I digress. The big news at the Hotel is a new "Steak Lovers" paradise; an attachment to the regular dinner menu. I've tried it and I like it.
Billie Raper, the executive chef, always trying to keep things interesting. The new steak menu offers certified Angus beef in various cuts from cattle raised with 100 percent vegetarian diets with no exposure to antibiotics, hormones, growth-promoting drugs, artificial ingredients, or boring speeches from City Council.
My steak was tender, delicious, perfectly prepared to order.
I had a wonderful 14-ounce filet, which brings me to the following question: Isn't the purpose of a filet to NOT have to deal with a bone? For me it is, but the bone-in idea caught me a little by surprise. I suppose the theory is that the bone helps make the filet more juicy. I have no idea. Anyway, for those who really have the hearty appetite, tackle the 20-ounce ribeye. But be warned: It's as big as a cow!
The Regency Room is still the most beautiful dining room in town. The hotel’s service is always (well, most always) exceptional, as it was the evening I was there.
Now, on the other end of the spectrum: The Waffle House as gone to "biscuits and gravy" for the first time in its long history. While some of the Southern Waffle Houses have offered this for a while, we're just getting it in the Roanoke Valley.
But the biscuit could be more exciting. It's a refrigerated affair that's split, then placed on the grill (Waffle Houses have no microwaves or ovens -- never have) and browned on each side with butter. The sausage gravy is made from a dry mix with freshly chopped and grilled sausage added.
Overall, it's a pretty good product and they're selling the dickens out of them.
Choose the usual variations: egg and cheese, bacon, egg and cheese, sausage biscuit, sausage gravy biscuit, or just sausage gravy on the side.
The crispness that results from grilling the biscuit appeals to me, but not everyone I talked to liked that aspect of it. Frankly, I'd rather have a biscuit crisp around the edges than a spongy microwaved biscuit or one that's been steamed into a mushy mess. Or one that's been under a heat lamp for hours, like many you get at fast food places now.
Anyway, you'll no longer get "the Waffle House glare" from the waitresses when you order a biscuit. Their snappy "We're a waffle place ... not a pancake or biscuit place" attitude has given way to a nod to present-day breakfast favorites. You can still get the glare for any number of other issues, but that's another story.
A few other restaurant items of interest: Healthy Treats Bakery & Cafe down on the City Market has, sadly, already given up the ghost. Located in the former Quizno's space, they didn't last long enough for me to even give them a try. Offering heart-healthy soups, salads, hot pockets, and other items, apparently they just didn't catch on.
The Seafood Company, formerly Capt. Paul's Seafood, has also closed. I was a true fan of this place even after the good Capt. sold out and it became both a retail seafood shop and restaurant, located next to Heavenly Ham off Colonial Avenue. I was fond of the fresh soups and chowders, the seafood burritos and the fried oysters. I also occasionally (though not often enough, apparently) stopped in for crab cakes to-go. They stuck to Capt. Paul's original minimal-filling recipe, which was just perfect.
Bly for now.
